HARVEY SCHACHTER'S GUIDE ON HOW TO HANDLE EVERYTHING FROM OVERFLOWING E-MAIL TO MEETING OVERLOADHARVEY 
SCHACHTER'S GUIDE ON HOW TO HANDLE EVERYTHING FROM OVERFLOWING E-MAIL TO MEETING 
OVERLOAD
HARVEY SCHACHTER 
First Item: Harper's hub-and-spoke not the best model for management
If you read about Stephen Harper's hub-and-spoke management style and were 
thinking of applying it to your office -- don't. Management experts say the 
Prime Minister is committing a classic mistake of new managers by trying to make 
all of the decisions revolve around him.
Over-control means out of control
"If you try to control everything, you control nothing," says Jim Fisher, 
associate dean at the Rotman School of Management. Instead, focus on one or two 
priorities, controlling those, and leave subordinates discretion on the many 
other matters your team faces. 
Paralysis inevitable
When one person tries to make all the decisions, very little gets done, and the 
world does not stand still waiting, so opportunities are lost and problems 
simmer until they explode.
Sabotage and rebellion encouraged
"The message the leader is sending the staff is 'you are stupid and I am smart' 
-- and after a while, people hold back and watch you make mistakes," Prof. 
Fisher says. "They'll be prepared to see their leader make a mistake even though 
it comes back to bite them. In the end, there's more satisfaction in that than 
in winning."
Leaders must lead, which means setting forth the strategy and organizational 
purpose, communicating to people, and letting them discover the best ways to 
implement based on their expertise. "Everyone in the organization must be 
leaders and followers, depending on the situation," says organizational 
behaviour expert Gerard Seijts of Richard Ivey School of Business. The 
exception, he says, is in a crisis when for a time -- but only a short time -- a 
leader must be highly directive, the hub for decisions. Beyond that, don't try 
the Prime Minister's approach.
Harvey Schachter is a Battersea, Ont.-based writer specializing in management 
issues. e-mail: harvey@harveyschachter.com
 